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<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">A glimpse of
hope. Maybe Congress is beginning to stand up for itself.
Who knows, maybe someone will notice the constitution one of these
days.</font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"><br></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">Bush halts inquiry
of FBI and stirs up a firestorm<br>
<u>http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/50583_privilege14.shtml</u><br
>
Friday, December 14, 2001<br>
<br>
By GLEN JOHNSON THE BOSTON GLOBE WASHINGTON -- President Bush
yesterday invoked executive privilege to block a congressional
subpoena exploring abuses in the Boston FBI office, prompting the
chairman of a House committee to lambaste his fellow Republicans and
triggering what one congressman said is the start of "a
constitutional confrontation."<br>
<br>
"You tell the president there's going to be war between the
president and this committee," Dan Burton, the Indiana Republican
who heads the House Government Reform Committee, told a Justice
Department official during what was supposed to be a routine
prehearing handshake.</font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">"His dad was
at a 90 percent approval rating and he lost, and the same thing can
happen to him," Burton added, jabbing his finger and glaring at
Carl Thorsen, a deputy assistant attorney general who was attempting
to introduce a superior who was testifying.<br>
<br>
"We've got a dictatorial president and a Justice Department that
does not want Congress involved. ... Your guy's acting like he's
king."</font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">The searing tone
continued for more than four hours from Republicans and Democrats,
liberals and conservatives. All objected to the order Bush signed
Wednesday and made public yesterday. It claimed executive privilege in
refusing to hand over prosecutors' memos in criminal cases, including
an investigation of campaign finance abuses, saying doing so
"would be contrary to the national interest."</font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">Committee members
said the order's sweeping language created a shift in presidential
policy and practices dating back to the Harding administration. They
complained also that it followed a pattern in which the Bush
administration has limited access to presidential historical records,
refused to give Congress documents about the vice president's energy
task force, and unilaterally announced plans for military commissions
that would try suspected terrorists in secret.</font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">Representative
William Delahunt, a Democrat and former district attorney, said:
"This is the beginning of a constitutional confrontation. In a
short period of time, this Department of Justice has manifested
tendencies that were of concern to Senate members during the
confirmation hearings for John Ashcroft as attorney
general."</font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">The Government
Reform Committee is investigating the FBI's use of confidential
informants while the bureau investigated New England organized crime
activities. The committee is seeking information on deals Boston FBI
officials struck with suspected murderers Stephen "the Rifleman"
Flemmi and James "Whitey" Bulger. It is also exploring what
FBI officials, including former Director J. Edgar</font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">Hoover, may have
known about the innocence of Joseph Salvati of Massachusetts.<br>
<br>
Salvati spent 30 years in prison for the 1965 murder of Edward
"Teddy" Deegan in Chelsea, but the Governor's Council
commuted his sentence in 1997. His conviction was overturned in
January after a judge concluded that FBI agents hid testimony that
would have cleared Salvati because they wanted to protect an
informant.<br>
<br>
-------------</font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000">"If you
suppress the truth it becomes your enemy . . . if you expose the truth
it becomes your weapon." - Col Phillip Corso.<br>
<br>
"I've heard the truth. Now what I want are the answers." -
Agent Scully to Agent Mulder, The X-Files.<br>
<br>
"And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free."
- Jesus Christ, John 8:32. </font><br>
<font face="Courier" size="+2" color="#000000"></font></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
</pre></x-sigsep>
<div>Kenoli Oleari, Horizons of Change,
http://www.horizonsofchange.com<br>
1801 Fairview Street, Berkeley, CA 94703 Voice
Phone: 510-601-8217,<br>
Fax: 510-595-8369, Email: kenoli@igc.org (or click on:
mailto://kenoli@igc.org)</div>
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